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ClothingThe choice of clothing used was made in conjunction with Starpole in Brussels and Kariboe in Leuven. The outer jacket and the polar fleece were made by the English company, Berghaus. The trousers were the subject of a specific study led by French manufacturer Francital. They included a layer of insulated synthetic wadding of 80 g/m2 and are sufficiently large as well as being attached to shoes by Velcro, to enable good air circulation along the whole leg; but its uniqueness comes from the use of MP+, a recently developed membrane which is made up of polyurethane containing high performance hydrophilic molecules.Modern synthetic fibres allow the production of much lighter and more efficient garments than those used at the beginning of the century or even those which came out in the 1960s. The basic principle for polar clothing is the "multi-layer". "When it is cold," explained Alain Hubert on his return from the North Pole, "you have to wear appropriate clothing, that much is obvious. It is also preferable not to sweat and to keep out of the wind as much as possible, because in conjunction with dampness, the wind is a major cooling factor. The best insulator is dry, still air. So what is the best way to dress for the cold? The basic principle is to create as many layers of clothes as possible and to wear a windcheater on top of everything. What you need to do is trap a maximum amount of air in the thickness of the down or the synthetic fibres used for underwear and polar fleece."
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